THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
O II. Armstrong Roberts
WEEK-OILD TWINS: AYRSIIRE CALVES FROM ONE OF PENNSYLVANIA'S FINEST HERDS
between 4 per cent and 5 per cent. There is
also record of an extraordinary cow (Kilmorna
Waterville 1st) that produced 11,126 pounds of
milk in 1913, yielding 52 gallons per day for
several months after calving.
The globule of the fat in Kerry milk is
smaller than in most other breeds. The cream
when set, therefore, does not rise so fast; hence
the Kerry's reputation for "sweet milk."
Butter
made from the milk is also considered particu
larly "sweet."
The cows carry upstanding,
slender white horns, with black tips which often
turn back. The bull's horns are shorter than
the cow's and are commonly erect, with tips
turned back.
A subvariety of the Kerry, known as the
Dexter, has attained considerable popularity,
both in Ireland and in England. The exact
origin of the Dexter is not clearly traced, but
Professor Wilson, in his "Evolution of British
Cattle," states that red cattle of North Devon
type were taken to the south of Ireland a cen
tury or more ago and crossed with the native
Kerry. He gives much credit to Devon influ
ence and ascribes the red which occasionally
occurs with Kerry and Dexter cattle to that
source. He also states that the Devon trans
mitted the shortness of leg seen in the Dexter.
What was formerly the Kerry and Dexter
Cattle Society of Ireland has recently changed
its title to the Kerry Cattle Society of Ireland,
and will no longer promote the Dexter. The
Royal Dublin Society, the publisher of the Herd
Book, has discontinued recording the Dexter.
This is because of its alleged uncertainty in re
production, the tendency of the cows, it is
alleged, being to drop calves with "bulldog"
heads.
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